The effects of concentration of cutting fluids on machining performance during end milling of steel St60

¹ Faculty of mechanical engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran
² Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Azadshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Azadshahr, Iran

^a Corresponding author: Ehsan.Shekarian@gmail.com

Received: 12 August 2014
Accepted: 21 September 2015

Abstract

Lubrication plays an important role in increasing efficiency of a machining operation when high temperature and friction are two major issues. In the current study, two various types of lubricant SAE10 oil and vegetable oil were tested in end milling of a steel St60 block and the results were compared with dry condition. To have a clear understanding of the lubrication effects, three different concentrations for each lubricant using proper solvent were made and surface roughness (Ra), machining power and tool wear were compared in three distinct machining conditions. These conditions differ in depth of cut and machining speed (in a constant feed rate) according to real application. Among the lubrication environments, SAE10 assisted machining in low spindle speed showed better results. Moreover, it was observed that dry machining and machining in presence of vegetable oil especially in the cases of cutting fluids with lower oil content in fairly high tool velocity lead to process productivity improvement. Finally, dry machining resulted in more wear on cutting tool.